Yin Wujou slammed the document shut in his hand. He looked up at her, his eyes shining with an astonishing light. "Really?"
Go see for yourself.
Yin Wujou got up and walked towards the backyard, his steps much faster than usual, almost a jog. Snow Empress followed behind him, watching his back—a dignified ruler of a region, running like this for a flower bud the size of a fingernail, what kind of behavior was that? But she couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.
That afternoon, Yin Wujou placed a thin bamboo branch next to the flower bud, afraid it would grow crooked. Snow Empress squatted beside him watching him tie the bamboo branch, and suddenly said, " Yin Wujou, did you make a wish upon this flower?"
What do you wish for?
"I heard that if you make a wish on a flower you planted yourself," Snow Empress said. "Why don't you give it a try?"
Yin Wujou straightened up after tying the bamboo sticks together, patted the dirt off his hands, looked carefully at the flower bud, and then said, "I don't have any wishes to make. I have everything I need."
"What if there is?"
Yin Wujou turned to look at her. The afternoon light filtered through the leaves of the red tree, falling like scattered gold on his face. He looked at Snow Empress with a calm and serene gaze, as if he had been looking at her for a very long time, having held onto a sentence in his heart countless times before finally letting it out.
"Yes," he said. "If wishes could come true, I would wish that you would still be here after this flower blooms."
Snow Empress squatted on the ground, looking up at him. The wind blew through the bushes, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead. She didn't brush them away, just kept her face upturned, looking into Yin Wujou's eyes. Her reflection was in those two cold, star-like eyes, a small figure, squatting there with her face upturned, looking silly.
She lowered her head, reached out and touched the flower bud, and whispered, "I'm not going anywhere."
Yin Wujou squatted down beside her, and the two of them squatted side by side against the wall once again, looking at the tender purple flower bud. The wind rustled through the Yezi of the red tree, the copper bells on the palace roof jingled, and the faint sounds of people and the smell of smoke came from the streets of the main city in the distance. Everything was peaceful and stable, as if this was how the world should be.
Four days later, the flower bud split open for the first time. It started as an extremely thin line, extending downwards from the tip, like someone had drawn a line on the petals with the lightest pen tip. Then the crack slowly widened, revealing a deeper layer of purple inside. Snow Empress and Yin Wujou went to check on it twice a day, morning and evening. The two of them squatted by the wall, heads together, studying the progress of the petals opening. Yin Wujou even took out paper and pen to record it, which Snow Empress laughed at.
On the seventh day, the bud fully bloomed. The five petals unfolded, their color a deep, rich purple, with a ring of pale gold lines around the edges, as if an artisan had edged them with gold thread. The stamens were tender yellow, trembling slightly in the wind. The flower was not large, but it bloomed fully and vibrantly, standing out against the backdrop of the reddish dwarf trees.
Yin Wujou stood before the flower for a long time. He didn't speak, and neither did Snow Empress. The two of them stood side by side, watching the purple flower that had grown from a withered petal finally bloom completely on the land of the Demon Domain.
After a long while, Yin Wujou spoke softly, "He's alive."
"He's alive," Snow Empress said.
She turned to look at him. Yin Wujou also turned to look at her. Their eyes met, and neither of them looked away. The wind passed between them, making the purple flower sway gently, as if nodding.
Snow Empress reached out and grasped Yin Wujou's hand, which was hanging by his side. His fingers stiffened slightly, then he closed them, holding her hand in his palm. His palm was dry and warm, exactly as she remembered. Their hands were clasped together, hanging between them, neither too tight nor too loose, fitting perfectly as if they were meant to be together.
" Yin Wujou." Snow Empress looked at the flower, her voice calm, but with a very slight tremor at the end, "When you took that petal back and buried it, wasn't this what you were thinking?"
Yin Wujou turned his head to look at her, the corners of his mouth slowly curving upwards. There was not a trace of evil in that smile, nor did it carry his usual mockery; it was just an extremely innocent smile, even the corners of his eyes curved. It was exactly the same smile he had shown when he looked at her by the bedside at the Ziwei Sect.
"You guess."
Snow Empress gripped his hand tightly and smiled. Her eyes crinkled into crescents when she smiled, her whole face glowing, even more vibrant than the purple flower by the wall.
"I'm not guessing," she said. "Anyway, I'm here, I can't run away. You can tell me slowly."
Yin Wujou pulled her closer to him, and the two of them became even closer.
Then Yin Wujou released her hand, turned around casually and walked into the palace, saying as he went, "I can tell you, but you have to eat breakfast first. I had the kitchen make some sweet cakes today, see if it tastes like the one you wanted last time."
Snow Empress followed behind, and seeing that he was deliberately avoiding the main point, she snorted inwardly, but her steps were light. The sugar cake was still steaming when it was served, the outer layer fried to a golden and crispy golden brown, and the filling inside was just the right amount of sweet. She took a bite and then squinted her eyes. Yin Wujou sat opposite her, propping his chin up and watching her, his gaze falling on the curve of her cheeks, his expression carrying an almost satisfied leisure.
"Delicious?" he asked.
"Mmm." Snow Empress took another bite and mumbled, "But don't try to fool me with sugar cakes."
Yin Wujou chuckled softly and reached out to wipe away a bit of sugar crumb from the corner of her mouth. His rough fingertips sent a tingling sensation through her as he wiped her lips. Snow Empress's ears burned, and she lowered her head to focus on the sugar cake in her hand, not asking any further questions.
Life went on as usual after that. The purple flower seemed even more vibrant after blooming. Every morning when Snow Empress went to water it, she could see the petals were slightly more open than the day before, and the color deepened day by day, slowly changing from a light purple at the beginning to a deep purplish-red, with the golden lines at the edges shimmering in the sunlight. Yin Wujou checked on it twice a day without fail, morning and evening. Snow Empress laughed, saying he cared for it more than a child. Yin Wujou replied seriously, "This is more precious than a child. A child grows up and doesn't recognize its father, but a flower that has bloomed is a flower that has bloomed; even if it runs away, it's still mine."
The Snow Empress splashed water on him with a ladle, and he dodged to the side, splashing the water onto the roots of the Crimson Tree. The two of them started arguing. A Demon Domain servant passing by walked past with his head down, not daring to Divine Capital at him, but he couldn't suppress the smirk on his face.
On the Thirty-Three Heavens, the Snow Empress returned home at noon and found an extra person in the front hall of the Wujou Hall Palace. It was an old woman, wearing a dark blue, narrow-sleeved robe, her hair neatly styled with an ebony hairpin, sitting in the guest seat, sipping her tea. Yin Wujou, sitting in the main seat, was unusually upright, and beckoned to the Snow Empress as she entered. "Come and greet Granny Song."
Snow Empress walked over and gave a junior's bow. Granny Song raised her eyelids and sized her up, her gaze sharp as a blade, scrutinizing her from head to toe, before setting down her teacup and speaking calmly, "Is it her?"